The Invisible Man Wears Glasses

I took my son to buy a new pair of glasses Friday night. His prescription had changed and his frames were hanging on his nose and ears at odd angles. I had only days to go before he turned 13 and lost the 12 and under discount so we did what the son hates most after art classes; we went shopping. There is a subtle and insidious form of racism that well intentioned people practice without meaning too. All in the guise of relating to young blacks and it transcends age, gender and class.

Now my son was dressed in a jacket, jeans, sneakers and a simple white shirt tucked into his jeans. He stands 5’8” with a close cropped hair with no cornrows or designs etched in- just high and tight. Overall he was dressed in pretty much the standard teenage fair minus the crotch of his pants hanging down to his knees. No rags on his head, no bandannas, hats or jewelery.

The first salesperson available was a relatively young white male. Once it was determined that son was the customer he greeted son with a few yo’s and a set of bizarre hand signals. It quickly went south from there. I know the young man meant well and so did Montana, but the salesperson could have saved himself from much embarrassment and a mountain of a tongue lashing if he had just approached my son with common courtesy and civility instead of the rap and gang references. I learned Friday night that Montana has learned to stand up for his innate dignity and personhood with a well reasoned mind and an articulate tongue instead of his devastating right, left, right combination. And I take comfort in that fact but it’s just that I wish that in 2005 he didn’t have too.

Montana has never read Ralph Ellison’s 50's classic, The Invisible Man, but he has incorporated the moral of the book in his being. He has never allowed others to define him. He sets his own standards and boundaries but that is a testament to his innate character. All of which makes me speculate how many of our young black people just give in to this insidious form of racism early in life? When the bigotry of low expectations falls under the guise of innate "coolness" what hope is there for those who are less of a hardy character or weary of the fight early in life? What can I say? 20 years of funding racial sensitivity and bias free education is a complete bust in light of the MTV/Much Music generation.